Dec 4, 2013

This delicious, hearty lentil soup made with chicken, cilantro, cumin and spices is perfect for warming your belly on those cold winter nights. What's more, it's easy to make, economical and very satisfying.

I was in the mood for this last night so I thought it would be
a great time to update the photos. I've slightly modified the original
recipe which I posted back in 2009, but the results are just as good.

I've been making this soup for years, my family loves it – including my four year old (to my surprise)! It makes a big pot which means plenty of leftovers for lunch. It freezes well and can be reheated with a little water if it gets too thick.

Lentils were actually the first legumes I liked as a kid. My mom would me a similar soup with carrots and celery and since I was picky – she usually pureed mine. I love preparing them because they cook so much quicker than dried beans, and a small amount goes a long way. They are high in protein, Vitamin B, folate and soluble fiber and have twice as much iron as other legumes. You can easily cut this recipe in half or freeze left-overs for lunch which is what I like to do. Chicken breast would work in place of thighs if you prefer white meat. Ground annato (also known as achiote) is commonly used in Latin
cuisine, it's used mostly to add color and adds a subtle flavor, but if
you can't find it paprika would work instead.

In a large pot combine lentils, chicken, water and chicken bullion. Bring to a boil, covered over medium-low heat until chicken is cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and shred, return to the pot.

Meanwhile, in a chopper or by hand, mince the onions, scallions, cilantro, garlic, and tomato. Add to the lentils with garlic powder, cumin, oregano and annato and cook, covered until the lentils are soft, about 25 more minutes, adding more water as needed if too thick. Adjust salt to taste as needed.

Another delicious dish!!! Can't wait to make more of your recipes. I've tried the roasted chickpeas . . . amazing, black bean salad . . . awesome and many more. Thank you so much for posting. It is making weight watchers easier for me.

I've never tried it in the crock pot, but I'm sure it can since dried lentil dont take as long to cook as dried beans. I would probably cook it 6-8. Let me know how it comes out if you do use the crock pot.

sazon is salt, garlic,cumin, coriander, and annato. the annato can be omitted because thats basically just for color. i would just mix all those spices together in equal parts and use 1 to 2 tsp of it to equal a paket of sazon. idk maybe gina has a better suggestion.

Wonderful recipe!!! I left out the tomato, used 4 cups of fat free/reduced sodium chicken broth and 1 bullion, made my own Sazon (avoiding MSG), and and about 1.5 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breasts (which probably adds a point per serving?).

I am on day 3 of Weight Watchers and found your site through Google. Love it!!

I made a batch of this tonight and it was spectacular. I'm a big lentil fan, and I fell in love with sazon thanks to your delicious pollo sabroso recipe, so this was a perfect pairing for me. Thank you for such a great recipe!

OK my daughter and I just devoured a bowl of this stuff. It tastes like it has been cooking all day! Absolutely delicious and SO quick and easy! Thank you once again for making Weight Watchers, and healthy eating in general, such a pleasure! Thanks to your family too for "testing" the recipes first! :-)Cristy & Kimberly

This looks lovely! just a small question, might sound stupid. But what are breast halves? Would that be one breast and the half of another or am I completely off the mark here? I really want to make this but I want to make sure I don't go overboard with the calories!

Made this tonight and it was great!! Used boneless breasts that I cooked separately in the crockpot beforehand and then shredded. Also used broth instead of the bouillon and ended up having to add more since it was thick. Also pureed it with an immersion blender before adding the chicken or the onion mixture. Made the texture a little more kid friendly. Thanks Gina!

This is tasty - thank you for your recipes! I love that your recipes are Weight Watcher friendly. I refuse to lose weight eating boring food! :) Just a note - I ran this through recipe builder and came up with a Pts. Plus value of 5. Still a bargain for a healthy and filling soup. Thanks!

Hi Gina - I discovered your sight earlier this year, after joining WW for the first time and love your recipes. Super helpful that you include the points plus value - Thank you!! I made this recipe over the weekend and both the BF and BFF loved it! Great flavor and so easy to make. We went a bit unhealthy and ate it with a fresh crusty baguette (just a small piece for me, of course) and it was perfect! Can't wait to try others!

I'm excited to make this this weekend! I'm really confused on the points though... Under nutritional info, it lists this as 2 points, but the title says 3. Users said that they plugged it in to the calculator and got 6 and 8 points. Huge differences, can you please clarify?

I love lentil soup & made some the other night....loosely following this recipe. I didn't, however, boil the lentils (and no chicken, i am vegetarian). Anyway, I had to throw it out because although it tasted DELISH it made me gastastic! Anyone have any idea why? Perhaps I am just sensitive to lentils?

This is one of my favorite recipes of your to make when it's cold and rainy out. I love it! And it's very nostalgic. Mi abuelita used to make a dish with a very similar taste con pollo y lentejas. Thanks so much!

How have I not seen this before? Most of my meals come from your site. Lentil soup is one of my favorite, go-to meals and this will be a great new twist. Have you played around with different veggies? I can't imagine lentil soup without spinach, so may add it. Just in time for the cold snap!

I love lentil soup but I never though to add chicken. I can't wait to try this! I think I'll try it in my crockpot...I love having dinner ready when I walk in the door from work. Love your site as always!

Yummy! We Indians call this `dal' and its an everyday staple. It's never ever made with chicken though, so this is an interesting twist. To make leftovers fun - fry up some onion, garlic and tomatoes, add the leftovers, whizz it in a blender and serve with a dollop of plain yogurt. Dal and yogurt are a match made in heaven!

For variety, add some apple cider vinegar (or red wine or any other kind of flavorful vinegar) toward the end of cooking, or a spoonful once it's served. Some tomato paste (1 Tablespoon or so) while it's cooking, along with a bit of brown sugar, will give you some new flavors. One of my faves. Great work, Gina!

I just made this today for lunch and boy is it delicious! I LOVE the Progresso canned lentil soup so I was a little leery of trying this recipe - because why mess with a good thing? Plus, how easy is it to just open a can? But the addition of chicken and cilantro to lentil soup forced me to say what the heck and take off in a mad dash to the local grocery - and oh, how glad I am! This soup was Ah. May. Zing. Also,if it were any easier my 6 year old could make it (it literally took me 10 minutes of actual work to make.) Thank you so much Gina!

Found this recipe in my inbox this morning. I had all the ingredients, so put it together and then went to my Weight Watchers meeting. What a wonderful soup to come home to, especially on such a frigid night. Thanks for another great recipe.

Found this recipe while looking on Pinterest for a chicken and lentil recipe. While I won't be making this exactly ( at least not this time, but likely next time), your recipe will help me use up a left over roadt chicken and my over abundance of lentils. Thank you!

I'm very sad that I never wrote down the old recipe. The old was 3pp. Now 5pp and chicken thighs. I despise chicken thighs! The old recipe was perfect! Anyway to tell me the old recipe? The one in my recipe box changed too. Im wicked bummed. =(

Made this the other night and oh my goodness it's delicious! I have had leftovers and am getting ready to eat them for lunch. We recently had a lot of snow, and it is still super cold here, so this is PERFECT. Super filling and SUPER comforting..thanks so much for your recipes! It's very tempting when it's cold out to gorge on fatty foods, but you provide an alternative that is seriously just as yummy. I always look forward to going home and cooking your recipes at the end of the day..it is such a joy to be able to provide healthy and delicious recipes for my husband and friends. Thanks again! :)

I made this soup and LOVE it!! I am a lifetime Weight Watchers member and Gina's recipes are all great. I served this soup to company for lunch and they asked for the recipe. I hooked them up with Skinnytaste. Keep up the good work, Gina.

Ive made this several times and just love it! I sub chicken breasts for the thighs.....use 8 cups of vegetable broth, adding in chopped carrots, celery and a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes. Its so good, Im making it tonight for our New Years Eve gathering!

Made it last night and it was amazing! Some changes: started with a sauteed mirepoix (onion, celery, carrots) before adding the broth/chicken, used fire roasted canned tomatoes instead of fresh, used dried cilantro, and could only find thighs w/ bone and skin so I skinned them pre-cooking and took the meat off the bone when I was shredding the chicken. Gave it a little blend w/ the immersion blender at the end, and served w/ jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Soooo good!!

For those wanting to refer back to the original 2009 recipe, I've typed it out from my copy and posted it in the My Fitness Pal forums. I wanted to have it documented somewhere in case I lose my copy. If you go into their forums (Community) and do a search for "Skinnytaste Lentil", the post should pop up.

This soup is delicious! Even my boyfriend loved it. I substituted turkey ham for the chicken and left out the cilantro because of personal taste. I also added more onion than called for. It turned out great! It's super filling too, and makes plenty of leftovers for lunches or last minute dinners.